


Jason's Last Mission

by annabethsquad



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:01:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24932692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabethsquad/pseuds/annabethsquad
Summary: This story takes place in Elysium, after Jason's death.There will be 10 chapters. The storyline is already finished.Also - there might be a few grammatical errors - English is not my main language, so I'm sorry...
Relationships: Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Luke Castellan/Jason Grace, Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in Elysium, after Jason's death.  
> There will be 10 chapters. The storyline is already finished.  
> Also - there might be a few grammatical errors - English is not my main language, so I'm sorry...

The sun, the wind, the sky – everything was perfect.

Jason was sitting down on the sand, looking over at the Fortunate Isles that were in the middle of Elysium. They were far enough in the water so no one unworthy would get there, but close enough so they could all daydream of one day, being there.

When he arrived in Elysium, all sorts of people came to greet him – former Hunters of Artemis, demigods and, it seemed like even some mortals knew who he was: “a great hero. Part of the Seven!!!”, blah blah blah. 

They also came barring the same questions, and the one that bugged him the most was “are you going to try for the Fortunate Isles?” He didn’t care – but, again… Not caring was one of the symptoms of being recently dead. At least that was what the brochure had said. 

He was moved into a small chalet near the water. They were meant to be used by the ones who didn’t have anyone else to live with, which was fine – he liked that neighborhood. It was calm and less chaotic than the ones built for families, with constant barbeques and parties.

An old vision he had had during the giant war came back to him – sitting on a porch, with his grandkids surrounding him. Piper nearby. He shook his head, ordering himself to stop thinking about it, and so he did. Everything that could make him suffer was easy to turn off. It was Elysium after all...

“Aren’t you going to partake on the festivities today, Jason?” a young girl approached him. She stood by his side, looking down. She was a former Artemis Hunter by her silver clothes, for sure – they could choose whatever outfits they wanted to wear. 

Jason himself kept alternating between orange and purple shirts. Much better than that bloody school uniform he had arrived in.

“No, I’m still acclimating, I guess”.

The girl rolled her eyes. “It’s been months Jason! At least… It feels like it. Time is weird here, right?”

“Yeah. I tried keeping count but some days feel longer than the others, so I stopped”.

“Well, you can’t! You need to start reacting to stuff. Thalia would’ve wanted you to be happy. You know that!”.

“WHAT?” Jason yelled, standing up “SHE PROBABLY DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IM DEAD!”

The girl didn’t flinch. She looked at him with pity in her eyes, and that only got Jason even madder. “If she doesn’t, she will. Soon enough” she said calmly “and she would hate knowing that someone else she loved is miserable, locking himself up to all the possibilities that Elysium can offer”.

Jason wanted to scream. What were those possibilities? Another dinner in the main park? Another calm evening watching fireworks? He did not want that! He wanted to be alive, fighting beside his friends. Near-death experience after near-death experience, feeling more alive than ever. Instead, he took a deep breath and asked: “who are you talking about?”

The girl turned, looking over the chalets, “I’m talking about that” she pointed to a chalet that was a few blocks away. 

Jason had not noticed it before. That chalet was almost falling to pieces, you see… Every chalet reflected the state of mind of its owner. Some had flowers in their windows, they were painted with bright colors and had music playing.

Jason’s was too clean. Empty. It did not feel like home at all. It had a bed, a bathroom, and that was it. 

The chalet the girl was pointing to, was like Jason’s if it had been struck by twenty lightings and a tsunami. The beige walls had cracks all over them. The windows were shut, and the blinds were down. The grass around it was dead, and there were fences, surrounding it, unlike all the other houses.

“Who lives there?” Jason faced the girl again; she was still staring at the building.

“Luke Castellan, son of Hermes”.

Before he left the girl, at the beach she said her name was Phoebe. She also mentioned she was about to be reborn, for the third time, hoping that in this next life she will also have the chance to serve Artemis again, becoming immortal but, if she died, she would go to the Isles of the Blest. 

Jason wished her the best and began walking towards Luke’s chalet. The closer he got, the worse the building appeared to be. The air was getting colder, which was something Jason deemed impossible in paradise.

“Anyone home?” Jason shouted, clapping his hands. “Luke? Are you there?”.

No one answered. 

Jason went around the house, trying to find a gate, where he could go in. But the once-white, now grey picket fence seemed to have none. He grabbed a small pebble, from beside the sidewalk and threw in on of the windows. Nothing happened, again.

He was getting frustrated. The idea of talking to someone who wasn’t puking rainbows and planning parties got him excited, for the first time since he arrived. He wanted to feel something, and happiness wasn’t it. He had left happiness on earth. He had left Piper.

“NO”, he yelled at himself, pushing the thought away, again. 

Suddenly he wans’t excited anymore to talk to Luke. He was angry at him for ignoring him. For being able to feel bad. For being able to have feelings that were so strong that his house looked like that. 

Jason had been running away from his feelings since he got to Elysium. He hated being a coward, and now, he hated Luke even more, for not being strong enough to feel.

“That’s enough,” Jason said under his breath, jumping the fence. He walked towards the house and knocked on the door. The knocks echoed, but no one came to greet him.

He tried peeping inside the window, trying to find a pot that wasn’t fully covered by the blinds, but he had no luck.

He returned to the door and turned the door handle which, for his surprise wasn’t locked. _Why put up a fence, but not lock the door?_ Jason thought.

He decided to go in and to his surprise, the insides were just like his chalet, but dark and cold. The walls instead of being empty were full of photos and drawings. Jason recognized Thalia and Annabeth in some of them. Most of them had camp-half blood on the background. 

Somehow Jason knew these were not actual photos, no one took them. They were memories that the owner of the house decided to surround himself with -, that is why Luke in any of them. They were _his_ memories. 

Out of curiosity, he touched one, that was attached to the door that leads to a small kitchen, and suddenly he wasn’t in Elysium anymore – he was in camp half-blood, in front of him stood a 12-year-old Percy Jackson, looking up to him while he taught how to properly hold a sword. 

The sun felt good on his skin, the smell of strawberries was sweet and the sound of clashing swords was familiar.

“Having fun?” A brooding voice brought Jason back to reality.

Beside him stood Luke Castellan. He looked just like the photo he had once found amongst Thalia’s things in Cabin 1 at Camp Half-blood, but this time he wasn’t smiling. He looked sad and tired. Nothing like any of the models they use on the brochure for Elysium. 

“I’m sorry” Jason whispered stepping away from the memories. “I knocked but no one answered and…”

“You resemble her” Luke interrupted him. “Not only by having the audacity to break in someone’s house, but your eyes”, he stared at Jason for a few seconds then turned away, towards the couch “they look just like hers.”

Jason didn’t know what to say, so he stared at his sisters’ old friend, sitting down at the couch, with his leg up in the coffee table. “Why are you here?” Luke asked, tired of waiting for Jason to break the silence.

“I guess you can say I was curious”, Jason sat down on the armchair beside the couch. “I’ve already encountered a few people from when I was alive, and they all seem so happy. I do not feel happy. I do not want to ruin their happiness”.

Jason felt the weight of those words lifting from his shoulders.

“I get it. I was happy when I first got here.” Luke laughed. “Hell... Not only happy... I was also thrilled! After all the shit I did? Getting to Elysium? Ha. I spent the first week, or what I thought was a week, bouncing around these streets. Walking on the beach, making plans to be reborn. But then…” his humor changed back to dark.

“Then what?” 

“Well, I noticed that people didn’t want me here. A lot of folks here are dead because of me”.

“Yeah, that must suck”.

To his surprise, Luke gave him a half-smile. “I wasn’t all my fault you know. In the end, I did the right thing and it was enough for me to be sent here, but not enough for me to forgive myself”.

They fell into silence. Luke’s eyes started to scan the room, jumping from memory to memory. “Then I decided to move on. I wanted to be reborn. That’s when these started to appear” he pointed at the memories. “It was like the house was telling me that I wasn’t ready yet, and I get it. Since then, I’ve spent all my time inside these walls, waiting”.

“Waiting for what?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I need to forgive myself? Maybe something more poetic? I have no idea, and the Morai were never nice to me, so… I’m just waiting”.

They made more small talk then, Luke understood how Jason felt. Empty. 

Jason apologized again for intruding, but Luke didn’t mind it and when he left the house, he found a surprise: there was a gate now, in the fence. He turned around, expecting to see Luke’s reaction, but the door was already shut.

He started walking towards his house. The sun was setting, and the sky was beautiful like it always was. He could hear the cries of joy coming from deeper inside the town and decided to ignore it, again. Maybe one day he would join them.

Not today.

He opened his door, and looked around his empty walls, remembering Luke’s house. He remembered what Phoebe told him, and she was right. Thalia would have hated seeing Luke that miserable.

Climbing up the stairs that lead to the single room in the house, Jason made a promise to himself - he would help Luke move on, even if that is his last mission. He didn’t need a prophecy to help his sisters’ old friend.

He opened the door to his room; it looked the same. Everything was beige. The bedsheets, the walls. Then he noticed, on the wall, right beside his bed. There was a photo. A memory. 

“No, no. No” he mumbled to himself. He wasn’t ready, yet, he walked towards the picture.

It was a picture of Piper, looking up to the sky, on the roof of cabin 1, at Camp Half-Blood. She had a surprised look on her face. He knew from when this was from… Right after the Giants War.

Jason stared at the picture, for what it felt like an hour, trying to fight the urge to relive that moment. He had spent so much time putting his walls up. Wanting to forget, and now Elysium itself was trying to get to him.

“I’m ready to feel again”, he said as he touched the memory.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks for reading!  
> I've decided to post here every other day.  
> There will be 10 chapters.

Jason did not need to sleep. He also didn’t need to eat or use the bathroom. He just needed to want something, and his body would obey. 

That night, after visiting Luke Castellan he decided he _needed_ to sleep, so he slept. For what it felt like days, but when he woke up, there was barely any light outside.

He liked sleeping in Elysium – here he never had bad dreams or any dreams at all, and that night wasn’t any different. 

Taking a deep breath, he sat down on the bed, turning his torso towards the wall behind him, to look at the memory glued to the wall – Piper, staring at the sky at Camp Half-Blood. The thought of having such a picture inside his house, in the last weeks, would have been impossible – he had spent most his time working on avoiding anything that could cause him pain. But that picture wasn’t causing him pain… 

_ Piper could never cause him pain _ . Not even when she had broken up with him. He understood her – the need to find who you are before being with someone else. He had planned to wait for her to find herself, so they could, later, find each other. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.

“Maybe in our next life” he whispered at the photo as he stood from the bed. 

For the first time since he arrived, he had a plan. Something to fill his day. He wasn’t going to be just wandering around aimlessly. 

Looking in the mirror, that was fixed on the wall at the other side of the room, he saw that he was wearing an orange shirt, and it made him smile.

Jason doubted that many people would be awake, but he was wrong – once he stepped outside his chalet, he could hear people jogging on the beach. Talking, and starting their day with loved ones. 

The mornings were always the best in Elysium. The sky was always filled with warm colors, and the wind, coming from the waterside, was pleasantly cool. It never rained, and he missed that. The weather in Elysium was always what most of the residents wanted it to be – not many enjoyed thunderstorms.

He looked over Luke’s chalet direction. He wanted to stop by, tell him about the memory of Piper, over his bed. He decided not to. He had plans to talk to Phoebe again, and he didn’t know how much time he had left before she was gone. 

Walking away from the beachside chalets and into the town, Jason started appreciating the buildings – they were all in different styles, making the neighborhoods cheerful and colorful. The sidewalks were made with stone and there were trees and flower bushes everywhere. _Coach Hegde would appreciate this,_ he thought. 

As he wandered deeper inside the town, he began seeing it – the building resembled Cabin 8, in camp half-blood. A tall silver cabin, that seemed to reflect moonlight. He climbed up the steps and knocked on the door.

A few moments later a young girl, wearing silver opened the door. She studied him, “why do I feel like I know you?” she asked.

“You probably know my sister, Thalia” he named-dropped, hoping that information was enough to get him invited inside. 

The girl's eyes sparkled and she realized who he was “Jason Grace, yes. Please come on in” she stepped aside, letting him in.

As she closes the door behind them, Jason scanned the room. It was decorated with paintings and carvings of wild animals. There were plenty of armchairs and hammocks around. Jason couldn’t find the light source, but the whole room seemed to be shining in silver. The roof had various kinds of constellations carved in silver. He only recognized a few of them.

He turned around facing her, the girl seemed even younger than Phoebe but just as intimidating. She was still studying him with her eyes, so he stared back.

“I would like to talk to Phoebe, please. It's urgent” Jason broke the silence.

“Urgency? In Elysium? That’s a funny concept” she smirked, finally looking away from him and towards and armchair at the nearest window. She sat down and looked back and him with sadness in her eyes, “but you are too late. She is gone”.

Jason took a deep breath, feeling frustrated.

“Maybe I can help you, my name is Naomi, by the way.”

Jason let out a sight – he had always been very polite, but some costumes were slipping away from him, the more time he spent on the afterlife “oh, yeah. I’m sorry. Nice to meet you, Naomi.”

She smiled. “Nice to meet you too, Jason Grace. Now, tell me. Why did you need Phoebe?”

He walked toward Naomi, sitting down on the windowsill, “I wanted to ask her how she managed to, like, schedule… being reborn”, his voice sounded almost like a question.

Naomi let out a small giggle, “what are you talking about? No one _schedules_ being reborn… Once you are ready, the Fates, or Morai… Whatever you want to call them. They will come to you.”

“And…?”

“Well, next time you decide to fall asleep, you simply… Disappear”. Jason noticed Naomi’s eyes were watering. He looked around the room again, trying to listen if anyone else was around. There was no other sound than his and Naomi’s breathing.

“You are alone here.”

“Yes, I am” she replied, now staring at the floor, “we are not supposed to leave this cabin empty, and all the others were ready to leave”.

“But you weren’t?” Jason asked.

“I am” she stared at him again, now with some anger in her eyes, “the Morai, just don’t know it yet.”

Jason could feel the pain in the girls’ voice, so he decided not to question her about it anymore. _There must be someone else in Elysium that could help me,_ he thought.

He said goodbye to Naomi. He told her she could visit him anytime, and he was surprised when she told him she knew where he lived. 

When he left the cabin, the sun was up. He didn’t know If it was an actual sun – they were supposed to be in the underworld, but it felt real enough. 

There were now more people in the streets. Some were riding bikes, others were tending to their gardens, sipping lemonades, and sharing jokes. Jason didn’t know how, but he could tell which amongst them were demigods or humans – not that demigods used their skills here, but they did have a different aura.

When Jason got to Luke’s chalet, everything was just the same as before. The house was still in a bad shape, surrounded by the gray picket fence that now had a small gate he could go through.

He thought about just going inside, but then remembered his lack of manners earlier that morning and knocked – much to his surprise he heard Luke’s voice, he didn’t quite understand what he had said, so he decided to go in.

The main room downstairs was empty, and Jason could hear noises coming from upstairs. Something felt off. Jason found himself reaching for his sword, but there were no weapons in Elysium. He started climbing up the stairs. 

He noticed how many of the photo-memories were there. Every wall in that house was completely covered. Most of them had a younger Annabeth and Thalia, and it made him miss his friend and sister.

He opened the door that leads to the bedroom, just like in his house, but the similarities stopped there. Luke’s bed wasn’t neatly kept against the wall, with bedside tables like in Jason’s. Everything here felt out of place. 

Luke’s bed was in the middle of the room, diagonally. Both bedside tables were piled on the far-left corner of the room. The only light source was a bedside lamp that was turned on near the closed window. Every single object inside it was grey, a dark grey, but the memories, which made their colors stand out even more - They colored the room with images of bright orange shirts and red and green strawberry fields. 

Jason ran toward Luke who was laying down on the hardwood floor, looking unconscious. He knelt near his head and realized what was happening – on Luke’s hand there was a photo – Jason couldn’t quite see the image but he had the urge to take it away from Luke, who had tears streaming down his eyes.

He kept muttering things, but Jason couldn’t figure out what he was saying.

“Luke, wake up!” Jason grabbed his shoulders, “c’mon, Luke”.

He didn’t open his eyes.

Jason stood up. He could see that Luke was suffering, he had to help him wake up. He walked towards the window and opened the blinds. The sunshine entered the room, but it didn’t make the image of his new friend any less depressive. 

He knelt again and grabbed the picture from his friend, pulling it away. The second he succeeded, he felt himself falling.

He wasn’t Jason anymore, he was Luke, and he was running, following a young Thalia and Annabeth on a forest. He had his sword out, and so did the girls. “I think we lost them,” young Annabeth said slowing her pace. They for sure didn’t, but the girl seemed like she was about to throw up, so they stopped.

Thalia’s eyes were scanning the area, but there was no sign of the monster that was following them.

“I can’t go on,” Annabeth said midst deep breaths, “go. I’ll distract them”.

Luke looked at Thalia, they both smiled – they admired how brave the little girl was. They both knew there was no way they would leave her behind.

“Annabeth, look at me,” he said kneeling, looking her in the eyes, “I told you before, we are family. No one gets left behind.”

Her grey eyes sparkled, and she smiled at him, and then towards Thalia.

“NO!” Jason was pulled back into reality. Luke stood over him, looking down angrily. “GET OUT. GET OUT NOW.”

Jason stood up, feeling dazed and a little scared.

“I SAID, OUT!” Luke yelled again, and this time Jason obeyed. He ran downstairs, and through the door, closing it behind him. He turned and looked up, at the second-floor window, the blinds were down again.

Jason braced himself and turned towards the fence. Near the gate stood a man – he was huge and muscular. He had his hands on the fence, analyzing the recently added-gate.

“Hi”, he said, now paying attention to Jason, “I guess you caught him in a bad day.”

Jason approached him, passing through the gate, and looking once more at the house, “yeah, I guess you can say that.”

The man was taller and way more muscular then Jason, but he did not seem like he was much older… Maybe 18 years?

“I’m Jason Grace, nice to meet you”, Jason said offering his hand.

The man smiled and shook his hand, smiling, “Hi, I’m Charles Beckendorf.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twt: @annabethsquad  
> next chapter, tuesday, the 30th.


	3. Chapter 3

Beckendorf’s house was the first place in Elysium Jason thought it felt like home.

It was a one-story house, on a neighborhood occupied mostly by couples and small families. Inside it was fully furnished, and it also had pictures everywhere, but they weren’t glued to the walls – they were kept neatly in picture frames.

“Please sit,” Charles said, and Jason obeyed, sitting on the couch. He felt a little uncomfortable, he didn’t know that guy, but he heard stories back in Camp Half-Blood. “So, it’s nice to see someone else trying to get through to Luke. When he first got here, it felt like he was ready for a new beginning, and then suddenly” Charles raised his shoulders, “… he gave up.”

“He mentioned something like that,” Jason looked down, remembering his first conversation with Luke, just yesterday, but it felt like it happened months ago, “I thought people were supposed to be happy here,” Jason crossed his arms and legs, “like, final resting place and all.”

Beckendorf walked towards Jason, sitting on a chair across from him. “I think Elysium is where we find happiness, but, it’s not an easy task if you stay at home, by yourself, in the dark.”

Jason knew Beckendorf was talking about Luke, but he had also described Jason’s behavior in the last few weeks. He shifted his legs, resting his hands on his lap.

“People deal with being dead in different ways, ” Charles continued, “my girlfriend? She had a hard first few months, but now things are starting to look up. We might leave here, soon enough.”

Jason thought about how Beckendorf handled the whole “being reborn” thing with such ease. It got him thinking about Naomi, and how sad she looked after being left alone by her friends. “We? As in, both of you together? The Fates are ok with that?”

“Yeah, I mean… Everything is a little different for demigods, right? We are only reborn as demigods, never mortals. And we usually, somehow, resemble our former lives,” Charles explained, “I asked the Fates, they said Silena and I are tied now – even though we won’t remember each other, _we will_ be together”.

Jason could not help but admire how happy and peaceful Beckendorf looked. The idea of forgetting who you are was one of the main reasons Jason had second thoughts about being reborn – he had already gone through the experience of memory loss.

_ Maybe I wouldn’t be so scared if I knew I would find Piper again,  _ Jason thought. 

“So, you two are like soulmates or something?” Jason asked.

“Yes, we are” the answer came from the front door. Entering the room was one of the most beautiful girls Jason had ever seen – she had long black hair and blue eyes. She was slim and tall, but not taller than Charles.

“You are Selina, right? Piper’s - ” Jason’s voice failed.

“Yes, I am. Hi, Jason,” she said, walking towards the back of Charles’ chair, resting her hands on his shoulders.

“We don’t know that yet,” Charles said looking up at his girlfriend.

“I’ve already decided. The Fates can get used to it”, she smiled back at him.

Jason felt a little out of place. He thought about saying goodbye and leaving, but he still wanted to ask them a few more questions. “So,” he interrupted them, “did the Fates come to you? When?”

Charles broke eye contact with Selina and looked at Jason, still smiling, “yeah, they came here once.”

“But he said he wasn’t ready. He was waiting for me” Silena continued. “Now we are both ready, just waiting for the green light.”

Jason looked down at the floor, frustrated. Every information he had gotten so far had something to do with either _waiting_ or _being ready._ It wasn’t helpful at all.

“Something interesting finally happened today… Or sad, I still don’t know” Charles said, and Jason resumed paying attention, “a few new houses appeared, mostly chalets”.

They fell into silence. Jason also didn’t know how to feel about “new neighbors”. Getting someone he loved back seemed like a dream, but that would also mean that person had died.

“I don’t know how to feel about this”, Jason said, but, to his surprise, he found himself talking to Silena, and not Charles.

“And that’s okay,” she said, meeting his gaze. Selina squeezed Charles's shoulder and started walking towards Jason, sitting by his side on the couch, “this whole thing,” she pointed at the window, “Elysium, is a hard concept to grasp, and you are new here. Sometimes it is hard remembering you are dead when you feel so alive.” Selina grabbed Jason’s hand, looking him in the eyes, “it’s okay to want _her_ back.”

Jason felt like he was about to burst into tears. He did want her back, but at what cost? _She deserves to live,_ he scolded himself.

“So, how bad things must be getting out there, hun?” Charles interrupted, and Jason looked at him gratefully.

“Ah, I wish I knew,” Selina freed Jason’s hand and sank into the couch, “Percy and Annabeth are probably out there, living the most romantic love story ever, in the middle of what – their tenth war? My mom probably fangirls after them!”

“I think is their third one?” Jason looked confused, and Silena laughed.

“Oh no, honey. Those two are legit soulmates. This is their third life, once they die - ”

“ _If_ they die” Charles interrupted, “I’m not sure the gods won’t just make them immortals, some kind of co-gods of demigods of something”, he laughed.

“Anyways, as I was saying”, Silena reprehended Charles, “this is their third time around. Always finding each other. It’s so romantic – if they die, they will go straight to the Isle of the Blest.”

Jason thought about his friends for a second – neither one of them felt like they were old souls, but their relationship was different from anything else he had ever seen.

“That seems about right,” he replied.

“Oh, that girl, what's her name?”, Beckendorf seemed amused, “she is the oracle now…”

“Rachel?” Jason replied.

“Yes” Charles laughed, “she never had a chance! Before I… Well. Before I died, I saw her kissing Percy”.

“Oh… I didn’t know that” Silena also looked amused. “Poor girl.”

“She is doing fine,” Jason said, remembering Rachel, “she is the oracle now. Even if Percy liked her back… She can’t, you know… Date anyone.”

Silena rolled her eyes. “You are missing the point. Even if she could date someone… Percy belongs to Annabeth and vice-versa. They are one of my favorite love stories.”

Jason was feeling good, on his way back home. 

After they stopped talking about soul mates, the three of them exchanged camp stories – Charles was especially interested in Festus. Selina wanted to know about Clarisse – unfortunately, Jason didn’t know much about the daughter of Ares.

Although he was feeling happy – or at least better, after what had happened in Luke’s house, something was different.

The moment he had said Piper's name, something inside him clicked. Like a button starting a countdown, he just didn’t know what it was counting down to. He could easily push the bad thoughts away and just focus on the nice afternoon he had with Beckendorf and Silena, but something still felt off.

He was almost arriving at his house – he could feel the cool breeze coming from the waterfront.

“Jason, wait up” he heard someone calling behind him. 

As he turned around, he saw Naomi jogging towards him. She was still wearing strictly silver, but this time, her outfit seemed more athletic, with leggings and a gym top. She looked like she was about to run a marathon.

He waited for her, expecting Naomi to be out of breath once she got to him, but fatigue wasn’t a thing in Elysium.

“So, yeah. I lied to you. I am not ready, yet, to be reborn and stuff,” she talked overusing her hands. She seemed nervous to talk to him.

“I figured”, Jason smiled back.

“I just wanted to ask you – if you ever figure out, you know… How to leave, please tell me.” She rested her hands on her hips.

“Sure, it may take a while though. I’m only getting vague answers.”

“At least you are getting some answers. I’m alone, remember?”

Jason nodded.

She said good-bye and started running towards the same direction she came from. Jason resumed his walk towards his house. The memories of what had happened earlier that day came back to him, making Jason feel dazed.

Jason turned the knob and stepped inside, turning on the lights as he closed the door. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, he found himself falling to his knees. His house wasn’t the same as he had left it.

Pictures from his entire life covered the walls, from top to bottom – they were more organized than Luke’s but less than at Beckendorf’s. Jason looked around the room. He remembered everything: pictures from the Argos II, Camp Jupiter, and Camp Half-Blood. His whole was in front of him. 

He cursed the Fates – they were for sure behind this sick game. He didn’t want this – he wanted to go to the beach, spend the rest of his day in the sand, and later go to bed.

Jason stood up, trying to find a pattern amongst the photos, and, indeed, they seemed to be in chronological order. He stepped away from the few memories he had from his childhood and walked towards the other side of the room, choosing to relive the best memories he had – when the world was about to end, Gaia was waking up, and his life was constantly threatened – but he had his friends and Piper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twt: @annabethsquad  
> Again, I'm sorry for the possible grammatical errors. English is not my first language.  
> The next chapter should be out on July 2nd.  
> Thank you for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, thanks for reading!  
> I know this chapter is way shorter than the ones before, but, I made some changes to the storyline as I was writing the fifth chapter and I didn't have much time to correct this one.  
> Hope you enjoy it.

Jason had no idea how much time he had spent inside his chalet, going from memory to memory. He noticed the light outside changing a few times, but he wasn’t paying too much attention. 

At some point, he decided to go upstairs and check if there were any other pictures in his room, but there weren’t. They seemed to be all in only one place, even that first one from Piper had been moved.

He didn’t want to leave. He didn’t care about helping Luke anymore. He didn’t care about helping Naomi or anyone else. At some point, he thought about how he could understand Luke better now.

“Well, this is odd” he heard a voice coming from the front door.

Jason had been lying down on the couch, holding a few of his memories from Camp Half-Blood when the visitor came. He was tall and buff, with curly black hair and blue eyes.

“Dakota?” Jason whispered, sitting up. “…what are you doing here?”

Jason was confused – the last time he had seen his old friend they were in battle, fighting against each other when the Romans attacked the Argo II.

“I came here to knock you on the head, you know”, Dakota laughed. His eyes were jumping from picture to picture, and they finally rested on Jason again. “But you look like you are not in good shape, so it won’t be a fair fight.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” Jason forced a smile. “Wait, you are…”

“Yes. Dead. I know, it sucks.” Dakota raised his shoulders, “at least they have Kool-Aid here too. They have everything – it’s kind of fun.”

“How?” Jason stood up, walking towards Dakota.

“I don’t remember everything, just that I was badly hurt, and, now I’m here”.

Jason waited for him to give more information, to tell him how things were out there - but he didn’t ask. He recalled his first few days, how his memories were blurry and how senseless he felt. 

“So, is anyone else I know here?” Jason asked smoothly.

“A few campers, some were asking to see you, but you never answered the door”, Dakota smiled, “that’s why I didn’t knock.”

Jason rolled his eyes and sat back on the couch, still looking at his friend. “Well, welcome to the party.”

“This is in no way a party, yesterday though, at the main agora? _That was the party_ ” The son of Bacchus started walking around the room, staring at the pictures that surrounded him. Jason wanted to ask him to stop, but he doubted he would, so he just watched as Dakota examined his life.

“I got some of those in my place,” Dakota finally said. “Not as many though. This is a lot; how can you handle it?”

“You did say I was in a bad shape, remember?” Jason smiled at his friend.

“Well, yeah. Look at you.” Dakota was now looking at Jason, mockingly, “not even a purple shirt, _greacus?_ ” 

Jason laughed. “I was wearing one a few days ago. Just happens that Elysium thinks orange is my color sometimes.”

“Elysium don’t know shit then! By the way,” Dakota said stepping away from the wall and towards Jason, “there was a guy after you yesterday at the party, I don’t remember his name.”

“That was probably Beckendorf, I talked to him a few days ago. Maybe he was checking in.”

Jason couldn’t think of a reason why Beckendorf would be searching for him. Maybe they were going to leave, and he wanted to say goodbye.

“Maybe… like I said, I don’t remember his name, although I must say, I thought he was your brother or something. You guys look so much alike”.

Jason froze. He looked nothing like Beckendorf.

“Wait, Dakota. Did this guy have a scar on his face, like, here” Jason touched his face, crossing a line from the bottom of his eye to his chin.

“Yeah. He also thought _tangerine_ was a good color for a shirt,” Dakota gave a small laugh, but stopped once he saw the confused look on Jason’s face.

“That wasn’t Beckendorf, that was Luke Castellan,” Jason said, as she opened the door and left the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twt: @annabethsquad  
> next chapter on the 4th or 5th of July.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a while since Jason first arrived in Elysium, and yet, he had never attended any of the daily parties.

They took place in almost every public space: the Agoras, the parks… Sometimes there would also be some gatherings at the beach, near the chalets, but those were more rare – people didn’t like parting and looking over the Isles of The Blest, imagining the kinds of parties they had there.

Jason followed the sound of happy cheers and music, and soon enough he found himself at one of the main agoras in Elysium – it was in the center of the same neighborhood Beckendorf and Silena lived, occupied by couples and small families.

The Agora itself was made with white stones and columns, in a Greek-style. Now they had tents serving food, and above a small stage, a band played a cheerful song using ancient instruments. Some people wore togas, some wore their day to day clothes. 

“Jason!” someone called, and he turned around to see who it was. Naomi was waving and walking towards him. “Didn’t take you for a party person.”

“I’m not”, Jason shrugged. 

“Oh, well… What are you doing here then?”

“I’m searching for someone, and I think he is also searching for me” Jason was looking around, his eyes stopping at anything that had the color orange, but he found orange tents, dresses, and three demigods, but none of them were Luke. “Have you seen Luke Castellan? I don’t know if you know him, but…”

“Oh, I do know him” Naomi interrupted, “I was there, in the war against Cronus you know.”

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry, I don’t really know much of what happened in New York during those times.”

“Not a problem,” she smiled. “So, I guess I can help you. But I must say, I think you came to the wrong place to find him, he is also not the party kind.”

“My friend Dakota saw him looking for me, I guess I just assumed he would be here.”

“I might just know where he could be,” Naomi turned around and started walking away from the party, and Jason followed her. 

They went through a few alleys, and soon enough the sound of the party was replaced by other people cheering – there was no instrumental music, but Jason could hear some people singing and talking.

They emerged on another agora, much smaller than the one before. It was lit by a single fire in the middle and all around it were teens and young adults wearing orange and purple shirts. The demigods were jesting around, cheering, and enjoying themselves. 

Jason felt his eyes watering. For just a second it felt like he was back in the firepit in Camp Half-Blood.

“The young demigods usually tend to make their own parties, away from the adults and older demigods” Naomi explained.

Jason nodded and started walking towards the center of the Agora – a few people came to greet him, familiar faces from both camps. There were too many new people, and although Jason was happy to see them again, he was also worried about what could be happening out there. 

He was glad he didn’t see any of his best friends. He missed them too much, but they deserved to live a happy life.

“Isn’t’ that him?” Naomi said, startling Jason. He hadn’t noticed that she was following him. His gaze followed the direction she was pointing to, and there he was. 

Luke was sitting on a stone bench, talking with Dakota and another boy Jason hadn’t seen before. He nodded at Naomi and started walking towards Luke’s direction. Naomi followed.

Dakota was the first one to notice Jason approaching and poked Luke, who turned around and spotted him as well. Jason was surprised by how different he seemed – he didn’t look exactly happy, but he was much better than before. 

Luke stood up and so did the two other boys. Dakota waved at Jason to come closer, even though he was already doing that, but Jason just nodded and picked up the pace. 

“Where did you go?” Dakota asked. “I was going to bring you here, but you just ran out of your house. We’ve been waiting.”

“I went to the wrong party,” Jason replied.

“Yeah, he decided to party with the adults back in the main Agora, lucky for him I was there too.”

“Aw, that sucks. This is much better,” the other boy said, gesturing to the party.

“Yes, Castor. Much better, although your father would prefer the other one, I believe,” Luke pointed out, talking to both boys. “So, Jason. Dakota told me you pulled a Luke and locked yourself in your house.”

Jason was angry at how amused Luke seemed. “No, I don’t feel that much pity for myself.”

“Ouch,” Dakota laughed.

“I guess I deserve that,” Luke glanced at his feet. “Honestly, I think I owe to Thalia not letting you follow my steps.”

Naomi shifted uncomfortably by Jason’s side.

“I don’t need your help, Luke.” Jason crossed his arms, “ _I was going to help YOU!_ But YOU decided to lose it and started yelling at me.”

“Yes, I did, and I’m sorry. Beckendorf came and talked to me later that day. I guess I was in a bad shape when you came in and, those memories were so private that I lost it.”

Jason stared at Luke – his apology seemed sincere, but Jason still felt some resentment for that guy. “Apology accepted, but I don’t need your help.”

They all stayed in silence for a brief moment – Jason kept staring back at Luke, who seemed delighted at being challenged. Jason remembered someone mentioning that Luke’s fatal flaw was his wrath. He wasn’t someone you wanted to see angry – his anger could easily blind him as it had happened during the Titan War.

“Well, I’m leaving,” Naomi broke the silence and started walking away, towards the alley they had come from. Castor and Dakota were also looking at Naomi as she was leaving, but Jason could feel that Luke was still staring at him.

“I should also leave,” he finally said, turning his head back at Luke.

“Sure,” Luke replied, standing up. “Bye Dakota and Castor”.

The boys waved their good-byes and turned to each other, arguing about who was the best, Bacchus, or Dionysius.

Jason was startled, _is he coming with me?_ Jason thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> twt: @annabethsquad
> 
> next chapter on the 7th or 8th of July.


	6. Chapter 6

Jason tried ignoring Luke for most of his way back home. The boy followed him, a few steps behind, asking random questions about Elysium and making snarky comments about the people who lived there.

“You know you are actually taking a longer path home right?” Luke asked. Jason felt embarrassed.

“Yes,” Jason lied, finally breaking his silence. He didn’t want to give in, but Luke’s arrogance got to him. He was fairly sure that the path he was taking would lead him to his house, but, he didn’t know Elysium well enough to navigate it efficiently. 

“Ah! You are talking again!” Luke exclaimed, clapping his hands once. Jason couldn’t see him, but he knew he was probably smiling, mocking him. “So now I can ask you where that Jason I met a few weeks ago, so eager to get to know me is?”

Jason didn’t answer. 

In front of him, the chalets started to emerge. He could feel the breeze coming from the beach, and he started wondering how he would shake Luke off.  _ Why did I go after him in the first place?  _ Jason asked himself. 

When he got to the door, he turned around and faced Luke, who was standing a few steps back, with his hands in his pockets.

“I am not going to ask you to come in,” Jason stated. He didn’t want Luke to see his memories, they were too personal, even though he had seen his.

“Look, I said I’m sorry, and I really am. Let me help you with whatever is inside that door.”

“Help me? Have you seen yourself? Your house? I’m in much better shape than you are.”

“Anyone can see that Jason,” Luke looked hurt. “I know I’m probably not the best person to have around, and I’m not going to lie to you,” he took a deep breath, “I’m being a little selfish here. Helping you might be my way out of this hole I dug myself into.”

Jason took his words in. Once again Luke seemed honest. 

“I promise I won’t pry in anything you don’t want me too,” Luke continued, “even though you sort of did that with me.”

Jason stared at the ground, smiling guiltily. 

He turned around and opened the door, walking in. He noticed Luke was still outside, waiting.

“Okay, come on in. But I’m warning you – I don’t want any snaky comment about how many times I’ve been hit on the head.”

Luke nodded and entered the chalet.

Jason kept following Luke with his eyes while we walked around the room looking at all the pictures. He had his hands in his pockets still, not touching any of them.

He mentioned he had fewer pictures. Jason explained how Hera had erased his memories for six months, making a few of his recent memories confusing. 

“There is also the fact that you were younger than me when you, well…”

“Died? Yes.” Jason interrupted. “ I don't have many memories of that day either, and, none of the actual moment Caligula… I don’t even remember well what happened. I just remember the pain and telling Tempest to save my friends. After that everything went dark.”

Luke gave him a sympathetic look. “I remember my death well, but that’s because I had to it myself.”

Jason didn’t know what to say, so he just kept quiet as Luke moved his eyes to the next picture. Luke was looking at memories from the time Jason was praetor with Reyna. 

“It's weird… I was probably supposed to know about this camp, but somehow Cronus managed to keep it away from me.”

“I have no idea how it must have felt, to share a body.”

“Oh… it was horrible. The pain. The confusion.” Luke was now gazing at Jason. “but enough about me. Let’s start.”

Jason was confused and Luke noticed. He walked towards the wall near the entrance, where Jason’s first memories stood.

“Start? What do you mean?”

“Tell me your story – the story of Jason Grace, a Roman  _ and  _ Greek hero.”

Jason turned to the first pictures in the wall – most of them he didn’t even remember when he was alive. Memories of him before he was left in the Wolf House, but they were there anyway. Thalia. His mom. The stapler incident.

“Ok then… But I remember what I said about snarky comments.”

“I promise to be good”, Luke said, raising his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, thanks for reading!  
> I'm not even sure someone reads this, but, I'm having trouble keeping a consistent schedule because of school, so I'm sorry :/  
> Next chapter on the 10th or 11th of July, probably.  
> They will also be bigger than the last two.  
> Anyways, thanks again!  
> Twt: @annabethsquad


	7. Chapter 7

Jason had fun showing Luke his past life – the guy was interested, and that meant a lot – he would ask questions and sometimes revisit memories he had already seen just to make a connection with a new one.

They talked a lot about the Titan War. Jason could feel his friends’ guilt – he didn’t know what was happening in California when Cronus attacked Manhattan, but he felt accountable anyways. 

“The way you fight, I mean. This Roman way to fight is so different. It’s impressive,” Luke mentioned.

“Thanks, yeah. The Greek way is pretty impressive too… Now that the camps are aware of each other, people can master both ways with the sword.”

“Maybe,” Luke shrugged, “I wish I had the chance to see it.”

Luke was holding one of Jason’s memories – he was playing war games at Camp Jupiter, at the Field of Mars. They were playing Siege, which was very similar to capture the flag in Camp Half-Blood. 

Jason grabbed the memory from Luke’s hand, and found himself surrounded by other campers – they all were looking at him, as he gave the instructions. Hannibal, the elephant stood near the group, waiting for the chance to attack.

“Yes, it was amazing. A little ruthless sometimes, but we needed the training to prepare,” Jason said as he returned to reality. “Maybe you will see it. Maybe, you can ask the Fates to send you back as a Roman demigod.”

“I would like that,” Luke smiled, “I’m just not sure how many requests they take”.

They both laughed.

Jason kept going, and when they were finally done, they noticed that it took much longer than they expected. It was dark outside again, but everything felt lighter and happier than before. 

Jason now looked at his memories with joy. He still missed his friends and his old life but now he was more thankful for what he had lived then angry for not having it anymore.

Luke also seemed more cheerful – he was sitting on the floor, next to memories from the time Jason reencountered Thalia. He had already seen them a couple of times, but he kept going back to that one.

Jason lost count of how many times Luke had mentioned how impressed he was by Percy’s and Annabeth’s skills, and Jason understood him – he used to teach them.

“What’s next?” Jason asked as he sat down on the floor, across from Luke, resting his back on the wall.

“I have no idea,” Luke replied, now staring at him.

“Maybe we could go to your house, and you can tell me your story?”

“Oh, no. You probably already know the highlights,” Luke laughed. “Besides, I’ve been through it so many times, I just, don’t want it anymore. I want to remember the people in it, and the good times, but… Most of it I would like to forget.”

“I get it.”

“But if you want to, you can always come by, I’ll let you look around. I owe you after you let me watch you get hit on the head so many times.” Luke was laughing. 

Jason tried to look angry, but he couldn’t. Of course, being unconscious so many times was annoying, now he could laugh about it.

“I will, besides… With Thalia being a huntress, I won’t have another chance to get to know her better. At least not as Jason. Maybe I’ll meet her as someone else.”

“We don’t know much about how the Fates work, but, we do know they aren’t very creative. People, _specially demigods,_ tend to reincarnate with many similarities from their past lives. Sometimes,” Luke snorted, “even our names are similar. Birthmarks, scars, friendships, our looks. It’s like they don’t even bother.”

Luke rolled his eyes.

“Maybe that way is easier to keep track of everyone,” Jason suggested, but Luke rolled his eyes again. 

“I feel like, as long as our lives are as tragic and entertaining as it could be, they will be fine with it.”

“True, but you shouldn’t be trashing them… Soon enough you will be asking for a few favors, aren’t you?” Jason raised his eyebrow.

“Yes,” Luke nodded. “I just don’t know if we get three wishes, or none, at all.”

“What are you going to ask?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. I’ll probably know when the time comes,” Luke smiled.

Jason felt like Luke was hiding something, but before he could point it out, someone knocked on the door. The boys exchanged looks, and after a few seconds Jason answered the door – It was Naomi.

She seemed happy at first, but when she noticed Luke was there her humor shifted like it had happened the night before.

“Hi – I, just. Well.” She mumbled. 

“You don’t want to come in?” Jason offered. 

“No, I – No, thank you. I just have some news, I thought it would interest you. A Roman girl joined the hunters.”

“Really? Who?” Jason was surprised. In his head, an endless list of names appeared, all, except:

“Reyna, daughter of Bellona,” Naomi replied.

Jason was shocked, at first, but as the idea sank in, he started to realize it made sense. He was happy for her – and he was even happier his old friend would be fighting next to his sister. “Do you know who the new Praetor is?”

“No, I only get news from the Hunters, sorry.”

“That’s okay,” he reassured her. “Thanks for sharing!”

Naomi smiled “sure, er… Good-Bye then,” she smiled and glanced once more towards Luke before turning around and leaving.

Jason closed the door, and as he turned he noticed Luke had a few pictures on his hands – all of them had Reyna in it. “This is the girl, right?” he asked.

“Yes, she is one of the best demigods I’ve ever seen. She is really strong and I hope she will be happy.” Jason let out. He was being sincere – he wished nothing but the best for Reyna. 

“That’s good thinking. I wish she had more news, like, how is Thalia… I mean. Reyna was at Camp Jupiter, right? So, the Hunters had to be there?”

Jason thought about it for a minute.

“If Thalia was there, it’s a good thing. She is strong, she probably helped a lot but… For all we know, Reyna could have been by herself, away from camp when she encountered them. We never know.”

Jason knew that was very unlikely – Rayna only left Camp when she _had_ to. But the relief on Luke’s face was worth the lie. “Yeah, for all we know that could be true.” Luke nodded.

After talking for a few more minutes, they both decided to go to Luke’s house – Jason wanted the chance to visit some of Luke’s memories without the yelling and the snooping.

They walked side by side, and people kept staring – raising their eyebrows and whispering things to each other. Jason knew they were whispering about Luke. People weren’t used to seeing him out and about, but, for the first time, in a long time there he was.

Luke kept asking for more information on the memories. He was fascinated by the logistics at Camp Jupiter, and Jason filled him in how the Senate, and New Rome worked.

At one point, Luke suddenly stopped, turning himself towards the chalets, frowning. Jason tried looking for whatever was bothering him but he couldn’t – he was staring at a normal chalet. Pretty basic, it could have been one of the new ones.

Then, Jason realized “wait, this is yours?” he was now frowning too.

“I don’t know, but it should be… Unless mine was misplaced? Can that happen?”

“You are asking me? I have no idea how Elysium works,” Jason cleared his throat. “Shall we see who is in there?”

Luke nodded and started walking to the door and Jason followed. Luke knocked but no one answered. He was still frowning when he faced Jason. “I have no idea what is happening.”

“Let’s just go inside”, Jason suggested.

“Why not?” Luke smiled as he opened the door and stepped inside.


	8. Chapter 8

“It’s all mine still,” Luke said as he entered the room.

The furniture was just like Jason remembered from the times he had been there. The memories, drawing, and notes were also in the exact same place. The biggest difference was the windows – the curtains weren’t closed shut, so they could see people jogging under the moonlight.

Jason went around the room. He turned on the lights, making Luke flinch for a second. His eyes were still adjusting when he noticed his friend was frowning.

"There's something upstairs," Luke said, looking at the upstairs.

Jason found himself reaching for his sword. He wondered how much time it would take for him to get rid of that habit. "Maybe the new owners? This chalet has your stuff but, it doesn't look like your chalet."

"Anybody home?" Luke yelled from the bottom of the stairs, but no one answered.

Luke glanced at Jason and then upstairs. Jason nodded and followed him.

As they entered Luke's room, Jason gasped. Sitting on Luke's bed were three old ladies, with silver hair knitting - Jason wasn't sure what, but it was big, like a bedsheet.

Luke hesitated for a moment, but then walked closer. "Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, I've been waiting." Luke's voice failed.

Jason started feeling out of place like he was interrupting something. He had seen the Fates before, and they were a very fearsome sight. He had even cursed at them a few times right after he had arrived in Elysium - he wasn't afraid back then, they couldn't kill him twice. Seeing them made him regret it.

"Yes, yes," mumbled the one in the middle. "It's time, right?" She asked the Fate on her right. "Clotho, this is your jurisdiction!"

"Yes, Fate of Birth. So much hope. Life. Not like that one," she gestured to the old lady on the other end.

"It's the end of life, but it is still part of it!" the other Fate replied, angrily.

"This same bickering, every time!" the one in the middle said loudly, and the others stopped arguing. "Jason, you must leave now."

The three Fates stared at him. He felt a tingling down his spine.

"It's okay," Luke assured him. "I'll meet you outside in a few minutes."

Jason nodded and turned around. As he climbed down the stairs, Jason considered staying inside - maybe he would be able to hear the conversation, but decided not to.

He left the chalet and made his way around it, so he could sit on the sand waiting. People were still enjoying the beach, even though it was pretty late at night.

Jason remembered Phoebe and started wondering where she ended up in - she was just a baby right now. It was a weird thought.

What felt like hours passed, and Jason glanced a few times towards Luke's chalet, but with no sign of his friend, so he decided to lay down and take a nap.

Jason woke up with Luke poking him. 

It took a few seconds for Jason's eyes to adjust to the sunlight, but when he manege to see Luke's expression, he smiled - Luke was glowing, and it appeared as he had cried a bit before. 

"Good morning, sunshine!" Luke said, and Jason waved him off. 

"Ugh. That was quite a long time," Jason said. He patted the sand next to him, and Luke sat down, staring at the water.

"It was mostly just them arguing with each other, to be honest," Luke shrugged. 

Jason stared at him, waiting for the rest of the story, but Luke kept his eyes in the water, overlooking the Isles of The Blest. He was about to ask for more details when Luke continued:

"I asked about you, but they wouldn't tell me anything." Luke turned to him, "I'm sorry."

"That's okay, thanks." Jason smiled. "So, when?"

Luke took a deep breath. "Next time I decide to sleep, they give us some time to say our goodbyes."

"I guess I'm your only stop then," Jason managed a laugh.

"I might visit Beckendorf before I go, we weren't friends, but, he tried helping me."

"He will appreciate that, so will Silena. They care about you."

Luke looked him in the eyes. "They care about you too. Don't isolate yourself, okay?"

"I won't," Jason assured him.

Someone screamed near them - it was a teenage girl, she was being pushed into the water, by some friends. Jason and Luke observed as the group played in the water.

"I'm sorry I can't talk more about what happened in there, but," Luke hesitated. "After seeing what you've been trough, It made some things clear to me. I abandoned people in my past life."

"But you felt abandoned too. Your father? All those siblings?" Jason interrupted.

"Maybe. I don't know." Luke replied. "I guess I'll have to break the circle."

"I still don't get what _my story_ has to do with it," Jason asked, crossing his arms.

"You don't see it?" Luke frowned. "I guess I can't help you. Somethings you need to figure out by yourself."

Jason didn't realize how frustrated he was until his friend stood up. Luke offered his hand, and Jason took it. Once they were both standing, Luke hugged him, and, after the shock, Jason hugged him back.

"Be good," Luke said as he stepped away.

"Do good," Jason replied, smiling.

Jason followed Luke with his eyes as he walked away from the beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> So... The next two chapters are alternative endings because I couldn't pick one dnfjndfks  
> Thanks for reading!  
> First ending in two or three days;


	9. Alternative ending #1

Luke left by the end of that afternoon.

Trying his best to keep his promise, Jason walked around the town. He met a few campers from camp half-blood that showed him were demigods usually hangout.

They took him to an open field - it looked just like a mixture of camp half-blood and the Field of Mars. The place was large and bordered by trees. There was a medium-sized lake being used by some people to swim and to canoe. A little cabin stood in the middle of the field, holding different kinds of weapons and battle gear.

Jason looked around, trying to recognize faces from the demigods training around him. He found Beckendorf, who was sitting on the grass, next to the cabin, sharpening a sword.

Jason thanked the demigods who showed him the field and jogged towards Beckendorf, who seemed too concentrated to notice him.

"Hello," Jason greeted him cheerfully.

"Jason, you found the camp!" Beckendorf looked up at him, "isn't this wonderful?"

"Yes... Why didn't anyone show me this before?"

"Oh... It's not a secret. Anyone can come here, although mortals enjoy mostly just the lake." Beckendorf shrugged. "I guess you just needed to get out of the house to find it. I'm glad you did!"

Jason scanned the field once more - a few feet away from him, two boys - one wearing an orange shirt and the other wearing purple - were batteling. The greek managed to strike the roman on his shoulder. Jason ran toward the boy, expecting blood and a bad injury, but he was fine. Not even his clothes were ripped.

"You will get used to it. Nobody gets hurt here... Pain is for the living." Beckendorf said, startling Jason, who hadn't seen him standing beside him.

Jason did get used to it. Since he found out about the camp, he spent most of his days playing capture the flag with the Greeks, or siege with the Romans.

Lee Fletcher once tried teaching him how to shoot an arrow, but Jason preferred using a sword.

Every night, after an entire day filled with war games and canoeing, the demigods would meet in the same ágora Jason had found Luke that one time. People would exchange stories and, before calling it a night, the children of Apollo would sing them songs.

What it felt like months passed by, then one day Jason was sitting by the lake, in the camp staring at the water. He could hear swords clashing, and someone yelling instructions on how to use a spear.

"You would think demigods wouldn't want to touch a sword in the afterlife, hun?" the voice came from beside him. Jason looked up and saw Naomi standing next to him.

"On the contrary, actually," Jason replied, as she sat down next to him. "Training here, without imminent threat is fun. It fills my days."

"Fair enough. You seem more... Alive?"

"I'm as alive as I can be," they both laughed.

"I'm glad, Thalia would like knowing you are happy," she smiled. "So, did you officially gave up hunting down the Fates?"

"I saw them," Jason replied, and Naomi raised an eyebrow. "They didn't want to talk to me, though. They talked to Luke."

"Did you hear anything? Any clue on what we need to do to leave here?" Naomi asked eagerly.

"No, they asked me to leave, and they sort of scare me, so I did."

"Hmm... But, did Luke say anything?"

"He did, but in a very cryptic way."

"Can you please elaborate?" Naomi seemed anxious.

"He said my story made things clear for him," Jason replied, "something about how he abandoned people and breaking the cycle, whatever that is."

"I guess that makes sense," Naomi nodded.

Jason looked at her, frowning. "What makes sense?"

"I guess Luke felt like he had abandoned your sister and your friends when he joined the Titans." Naomi shrugged, "for all I know, he also never came back to his mother. At least that's what Thalia said once."

Jason's head was spinning - everything Naomi had said made sense. Luke had chosen to betray Camp Half-Blood and his friends because of how blindly angry he was at the gods.

"After we met you when we fought Lycaon, Thalia told us somethings about you," Naomi continued, "how you were left by your mom to be raised by Lupa."

Jason thought about it - he was abandoned by his mother, and that feeling had surfaced when he had faced her ghost during the giant war. He also felt some resentment towards his friends in Camp Jupiter - when he disappeared, no one seemed to be looking for him. Camp Half-Blood had campers all over the USA looking for Percy.

"I still don't get the 'breaking the cycle' part," Jason said.

Jason skipped the meeting at the ágora that evening. He said good-bye to his friends and walked straight home.

As he was walking back, he started making sense of what Naomi suggested and wondered what his role in this story was.

When he got to his chalet, something felt out of place: the lights downstairs were on. He wondered who might be there, waiting for him. - most of his friends were at the ágora.

He entered the chalet and facing him was the three Fates, sitting on his couch. They were still knitting the same bedsheet that now was big enough to cover their feet. 

"Jason Grace, we've been waiting for way too long!" said the left one.

"Way too long, indeed! Life cannot wait all this time!" blurted the middle one.

"Or death, for that matter!" the left one emphasized.

"Enough, sisters," the one in the right said. "Come, Jason, sit here," she patted the armchair next to her.

Jason was still in shock, but he managed to obey the orders. He sat down and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"No one never knows!" the middle one giggled. "Anyone but us, of course."

"Not even the gods." The one in the right who was sitting next to him whispered like the gods could hear her.

"I'm ready to go," Jason said, sounding more like a question. 

The three Fates looked at each other, still knitting. "Yes, but this was nothing to do with me." the left one waved her hand at her sisters and went back to knitting.

"My turn! Enough death for Jason Grace. At least for now!" the right one agreed. "My name is Clotho, the Fate of Birth, and this" she gestured to her sister in the middle, is Lachesis, the Fate of Life."

"We wonder if you have any requests for us, Jason Grace. Before you may leave." Lachesis glared at him.

Jason wanted to kick himself. He never gave it any thought. The idea of being reborn felt distant from him, and, now, the Fates were there, in this home, and he didn't know what to ask.

He thought about asking to meet his sister again, but he wouldn't be himself. He wouldn't be _this_ Jason - so what was the point? He knew he would go back as a demigod. Maybe he could choose his parent, or the camp he would attend? 

_ But why does it matter?  _ He thought to himself. All he wanted was:

"I just want to be happy." He replied.

The fates glared at each other, confused. Lachesis even stopped knitting for a brief second. "I guess we can try, besides... There are already some requests for you from other people."

"Indeed," Clotho agreed. "This is enough, we can go now."

The three Fates stood up and examined him once more before fading away.

Jason had a "wait" stuck in this throat, but it was too late, they had left. He looked around the room - it was just him and his memories. He walked towards the wall and grabbed one from the wall - it was a memory from right after the giant war: everyone was in Camp Half-Blood, trying to repair the damages. It was a simple memory, but it made him happy.

He walked upstairs and lay on his bed. He relived the memory a couple of times, before finally closing his eyes.

Eleven years later -

"You need to get to the top of that hill!" the satyr yelled.

James looked at where he was pointing to, but couldn't see anything that would help him and his science teacher - now half-goat - get away from the two women running towards them. "Just go!!" he screamed once more at James before grabbing his flute from his pocket.

This time he obeyed him and ran. He felt exhausted. The two women, for some unknown reason, tried to attack him at school earlier that day.

When he finally reached the top of the hill, he wanted to turn around and leave - there was a dragon, it was protecting a tree and what it looked like a gold cloth. James turned around and looked for the satyr, who was now climbing up the hill as well. The two vampire-women were nowhere to be found, but two new trees stood where they once were.

"Mr. Redwood, there is a dragon here!" He yelled at the satyr who just snorted and waved his hand.

"That's Peleus, he won't hurt you." The satyr was out of breath.

James waited for the satyr to climb the hill, glancing every few seconds at the dragon who seemed bored when another vampire-woman appeared behind the satyr.

James pointed, but it was too late - the monster grabbed the satyr, and they both started rolling down the hill.

James turned at the dragon, "can you help?" He felt stupid asking for a dragon's help, but too many crazy things had happened in the past hour.

After receiving no response, James grabbed a rock from the floor and threw at the monster, hoping it wouldn't hit Mr. Redwood - and it didn't. James had always been good at aiming.

He walked towards the other side of the hill, hoping we would find something that could help him - and he did. Somehow, there was an entire camp downhill, with cabins, people wearing orange shirts running around. He yelled, but, no one noticed. Not far from where he stood, near a two-story house, three boys were talking.

James decided to do something he had promised his mother he wouldn't anymore, he filled his lunges and whistled. The sound was so powerful and loud that the dragon complained. The trees around him shook, but, in the end, he got the boys' attention, and they started running towards him, one had a bow, and the other two had swords.

James turned around and started running downhill, trying to get to Mr. Redwood, who was tangled with the vampire-girl. They had stopped on a tree, and the satyr kept kicking her every time she tried bitting him.

"Get off him!" James yelled, trying to catch the girls' attention, and unfortunately, he did. The girl turned to him and smiled, leaving the satyr behind.

She didn't look like a vampire anymore - she was now just a normal girl, walking towards him. "No need to be afraid, sweety!" she said, coming closer.

"Stay away from him, Empousai!" Someone yelled, and the girl stepped away in pain. James noticed she had an arrow stuck on her arm.

Jason saw the three boys from the camp had arrived - the older one was running towards the satyr, taking herbs from his belt. The other two ran towards the girl, who now looked like a vampire again.

The Empousa grabbed James' arms with her claws, raising him from the floor and throwing him down the hill.

The boy rolled a few meters down and stopped when he encountered a big rock. He could feel blood coming from his forehead, where his head hit the sharp surface. He was beginning to lose consciousness when someone turned him around, facing upwards.

The boy looked kind of like him - he was blond and had blue eyes. He even had a scar on his face, not like James' on his bottom lip. The boy's scar was across the right side of his face like an animal had clawed him.

"Go, leave. Save Mr. Redwood. Please." James managed to say. He was too tired and hurt, besides, he owned the satyr his life.

"Don't worry," the boy grabbed something from his pocket "eat this."

James didn't know what it was, but somehow, he felt like he could trust him. The ambrosia tasted like the popcorn his mother used to make every time they had movie nights.

After swallowing it, James started feeling immediately better. "What's your name?"

"I'm Lucas, and yours?" the boy replied, still examining the cut on James' forehead.

"James."

"Nice to meet you, James. Stay here - "

"No, please," James interrupted. He was now aware of how scared he had been.

"Don't worry, I'll come back," Lucas smiled, "I'll just check on Victor and the Empousai., besides, by the sound of that whistle you did, we are probably family. And I never abandon family."

Lucas squeezed James' shoulder before standing up and running uphill.

It took a few minutes, but soon enough Lucas came back. He helped James stand up and served and support as they climbed the hill, towards the camp.

When they got to the top, he glanced at the dragon, who was now asleep.

"C'mon, left. Right. Left. Right." The other two boys said as they helped the satyr walk towards the camp.

James stopped to look over the camp. Somehow, he felt like he was in the right place. "Where are we?" he asked Lucas.

"This is Camp-Half Blood. Your new home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this came out a day later than expected because my computer for some reason turned off as I was writing and I lost everything.  
> This is the original ending I had in mind when I first thought about this fic, and I hope anyone reading this liked it.  
> The other ending is a Jasiper, or Jiper, idk which one is correct jnjdsjnf, but I'll write it once I get the last TOA book. I want to wait and see if Rick k words Piper or not (hopefully not), but if he does, I'll try writing as cannon as possible. If he doesn't, I'll just come up with something;  
> I'll also start writing some Percabeth one-shots but in Portuguese. Writing in English was... an experience... kmdkfmkf  
> Thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading <3  
> follow me on twitter @annabethsquad


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